Looking Ahead to "Remember Me"

This game might have slipped off your radar. It’s hasn’t gotten a lot of attention at all. It slipped past me when I wrote my “Games of 2013” article last year. But when I did notice it, it became a game I’m very much looking forward to.

It didn't see a lot of promotion, but you may have heard about it, if you follow any video game news source, since it was recently revealed that publishers avoided this game due to the lead character being a woman. That’s pretty crazy stuff, right?

Creative Director Jean-Max Morris told Penny Arcade “We had some that said, 'Well, we don't want to publish it because that's not going to succeed. You can't have a female character in games. It has to be a male character, simple as that.'”

He went on to say “We had people tell us, 'You can't make a dude like the player kiss another dude in the game, that's going to feel awkward.'”Well, aint that a big boat of crazy?

I’m sure I could go on about female protagonists in games. And I will, but not here.

So, let’s have a look at what we know so far:

The story follows Nilin, an elite "memory hunter", who has been arrested and had her mind wiped. So, naturally, she sets out to fix that by learning to hate an enemy all over again, with the help of those she knew before.

So the majority of the game is based around getting Nilin’s memory back while fighting an enemy she knows nothing about. The story is interesting enough and could be great if it’s well executed. It could be a Philip K. Dick style story of paranoia and reality changes. Or it could be crap. But the developers frequently mention Ghost in the Shell as an influence so there’s hope.

What really makes this game so interesting is everything else, especially the ability to break into people’s minds and alter their memories. Sure the story could be great! But memory attacks! How cool is that?!? Check this out:

In this gameplay demo, we’re shown a level where she has to climb to the top of a building, avoid guards and security drones, and make a man kill himself. Inside the man’s mind, she makes subtle changes to his memory to make him think he killed his wife. This grief and worry leads to him blowing his own brains out.

While there’s only one way to complete these memory sections, many of these events will have combinations that you need to identify and use to complete it.

There are several ways to complete most missions but the levels are pretty linear. But as linear as they are, they look pretty big, giving you plenty to look at and experience. Plus a whole lot of climbing is involved.

Of course it’s not all about suicide and climbing.

There are free roam elements in the game, giving you the chance to complete a goal in a variety of ways. Wanna shoot, trick or sneak your way past enemies? It looks like this game has all those options covered.Although it might be easy to get sick of the clambering over things and climbing buildings style that Assassin’s Creed popularised, it still looks pretty great.

The combat looks similar to Rocksteady’s Batman but slightly more complex. It’s a Capcom game so it’s bound to be fun.

And it looks freaking sexy. The whole thing; the people, the surroundings, the actions, the menus - everything is nice to look at. Neo Paris resembles Blade Runner, but still keeps its own personality and style and it’s nice to see the grimy underbelly of the city.

Nilin herself is pretty interesting. She’s strong, fast and clever which could go a long way to help gamers accept female video game protagonists. She’s sexy, but not over the top, which is nice, and (at least from what I’ve seen so far) she's an interesting character. Amnesia, trust issues, an enemy she’s getting to know all over again. That’s cool.

What I do find odd, however, is the casting decision. Kezia Burrows, an unknown Welsh actress, plays Nilin. Capcom is letting the developer, Dontnod, take some unusual risks here. Not only is she a woman, but also not American in a place that isn’t America. Although, they could be hoping that people draw comparisons to Lara Croft when they hear the British accent. Personally, I like that there’s now a British video game character that isn’t evil.

Nilin.

So the game looks good. It looks great, from my point of view! Hopefully it’s fun, at the very least. And hopefully male gamers won’t dismiss it simply because the protagonist is a woman. We don’t want to reinforce the stereotypical views that publishers have, right?

Remember Me is released this June, from Capcom and Dontnod.So, did this game slip past you? Are you looking forward to it? Let us know!